Contractor locks Mancherial school, threatens suicide over unpaid bill

In Velganoor village, a contractor locked a school gate and threatened suicide over delayed payments, affecting over 300 students. This marks the second such incident in three days in Telangana, sparking calls for swift resolution from staff and locals.

Mancherial: In the second such incident in three days, a contractor locked the main gate of a government school and threatened to end his life over non-payment of bills for a completed project, causing disruption to over 300 students for nearly three hours in Velganoor village of Dandepalli mandal on Wednesday.

The contractor, Gadigoppula Thirupathi, said that despite completing the construction of a dining hall on the school premises some time ago, his bill had not been cleared. He lamented that he was under severe pressure from moneylenders to repay loans taken for the work and was now driven to the brink.

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“I have no choice left but to end my life by consuming pesticide,” he declared during the protest.

As a result, students from four nearby villages and the school’s teaching staff were forced to wait outside the locked premises until afternoon. The students appealed to the authorities to resolve the issue promptly, while teachers urged officials to expedite the bill payment to avoid further inconvenience to pupils.

This is the second such incident in recent days. On June 16, another contractor, Gaddam Srinivas, locked the gate of Zilla Parishad Secondary School at Rajura village in Khanapur mandal, protesting the delay in payment of a Rs. 40 lakh bill for repair works. That protest also left teachers and students waiting for hours outside the school.